A family power struggle for control of the beleaguered Brennan’s restaurant in the French Quarter erupted recently, and police had to be called in to defuse the situation, according to a lawsuit filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court.

The argument, described in court papers as a “stand-off” in which some parties refused to leave the premises “absent handcuffs,” broke out on the afternoon of April 26, the first Friday of the New Orleans Jazz Fest, and threatened to disrupt a busy night at the restaurant.

To settle the schism, the warring family members agreed to temporarily share management duties. The arrangement will continue until the family goes before Judge Susie Morgan in U.S. District Court on May 13.

So far, the arrangement has been amicable, said Phillip Wittmann, an attorney representing Ted Brennan and his daughter, Bridget Brennan Tyrrell.

“It’s run smoothly,” he said. "There have been no confrontations or altercations.”

The power struggle is the latest internecine battle to plague the elegant French Quarter eatery.

The squabble at the restaurant was the result of an effort by Owen “Pip” Brennan to wrestle control away from his brother, Ted Brennan, and Ted’s daughter, Bridget Brennan Tyrrell, who have managed the place since 2010.

In recent years, Brennan’s has been mired in legal and financial troubles. According to separate court records, it is in debt and facing foreclosure.

Owen Brennan’s sons, Ted, Pip and Jimmy, ran Brennan’s on Royal Street for years.

In 2010, Jimmy died, and Pip retired, selling his shares back to the business.

That seems to be the linchpin of the latest argument.

Last fall, Pip filed suit in Orleans Parish Civil District Court, claiming he has not been fully paid for his shares and that he is owed $3.8 million. In that suit, he asked the court to force the restaurant to pay him before "Brennan's Inc. completely wastes, squanders or loses all of its remaining assets."

On April 26, the day of the incident at the restaurant, Pip called a shareholders meeting. He voted to have Ted and Bridget removed as directors and to place himself and his sons, Blake and Clark, in control, according to a lawsuit filed by Ted and Bridget against Pip and his sons in Orleans Parish Civil District Court.

The suit, filed three days later, has been moved to federal court. It contends that Pip did not have the right to call the shareholders meeting, and does not have voting privileges since he had sold his stock in the restaurant.

Jean-Paul Layrisson, one of Pip’s attorneys, said Friday evening that his client was “asserting his right to obtain control of the company.” Layrisson had no further comment.